La Mesa Sunrise Rotary Club

A record crowd of 38 people attended an energy-charged meeting of the La Mesa Sunrise Rotary club on Friday, Feb. 13, the largest number since it started meeting at Marie Callenders last July. 

Along with the main program feature a introdution to the Shelter Box program, the meeting included a presentations about an Eagle Scout project, the activities of the Helix Charter High School Interact Club, the Youth Advisory Commission of the City of La Mesa, and short speeches by elementary school age members of the Peace Patrol at Lexington Elementary School. 

Fifty people walked five miles around Mission Bay to raise money to bring safe water to 300 primary students in Uganda in the Walk for Water sponsored by the La Mesa Sunrise Rotary Club. The walk has raised $1,600 so far with more coming in. Photos and details can be viewed at http://waterwalk.org.

Four La Mesa Sunrise Rotarians joined 20 members of the Helix Charter High School Interact Club and and Helix Interact Advisor Kris Irving for a morning of work against hunger at the San Diego Food Bank on Saturday, Sept.  6, 2008.

Members of the two clubs organized boxes and personal items for ready access by patrons, cleaned out damaged or expired products, and did other essential tasks at the food bank. After working there, members were taken on a tour of the facility, including their huge freezer which preserves frozen foods at -10 degrees F.

The Helix Interact club is sponsored by the La Mesa Sunrise Rotary club. Members from LMSR that helped out at the event were Club President David Roberts, Interact Chair Mary La Russa, LMSR Foundation President Betty Howland, and Diane Wilson, who has been helping Mary with Interact this year.

See more photos here: Food bank photos

We have an exciting new venue for our weekly club meeting starting August 1, 2008! We will meeting at Marie Callendar's on 6950 Alvarado Rd., near the I-8 offramp to 70th Street. The meeting will start at the usual time of 7:15 am and will be held each Friday.  Please enter by the East-side door.

On Saturday, April 26, approximately 200 foster children, from toddlers to teens, will frolic at Helix Charter High School in a "Fun Day for Foster Kids" hosted by the La Mesa Sunrise Rotary Club from 10 am to 2 pm. Together with their foster parents, the kids will enjoy face-painting, rock wall climbing, a bounce house, karaoke, numerous games, and a delicious barbecue lunch.

This year the La Mesa Sunrise Rotary Club is directly involved in, or in partnership with other District 5340 clubs for $111,550 in matching grants. All the grants support service projects in Ecuador. The grants include $54,000 for Mechanical Cows to bring soy milk to hungry kids in Guayaquil and Cuenca, $18,050 for microcredit grants and $24,000 for a medical clinic in Guayaquil, and $15,000 for a water project in Quito. Two of the grants have been funded--the mechanical cows and the medical clinic. The club is awaiting confirmation on the others. Reported by David Ballesteros